Nivel C1

I can generally catch much of what is said around me, but may find it difficult to participate effectively in discussion with several native speakers who do not modify their language in any way. I can keep up with an animated conversation between native speakers.

I can use a variety of strategies to achieve comprehension, including listening for main points; checking comprehension by using contextual clues.

I can understand recordings in standard language likely to be encountered in social, professional or academic life and identify speaker viewpoints and attitudes as well as the information content. I can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life.

I can understand documentaries, live interviews, talk shows, plays and the majority of films in standard dialect.

I can scan quickly through long and complex texts, locating relevant details. I can quickly identify the content and relevance of news items, articles and reports on a wide range of professional topics, deciding whether closer study is worthwhile.

I can understand specialised articles outside my field, provided I can use a dictionary occasionally to confirm my interpretation of terminology. I can obtain information, ideas and opinions from highly specialised sources within my field.

I can read with a large degree of independence, adapting style and speed of reading to different texts and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively. I can understand in detail lengthy, complex texts, whether or not they relate to my own area of speciality, provided I can reread difficult sections.

I can summarise a wide range of factual and imaginative texts, commenting on and discussing contrasting points of view and the main themes. I can summarise extracts from news items, interviews or documentaries containing opinions, argument and discussion.

I can account for and sustain my opinions in discussion by providing relevant explanations, arguments and comments. I can take an active part in informal discussion in familiar contexts, commenting, putting point of view clearly, evaluating alternative proposals and making and responding to hypotheses. I can express my ideas and opinions with precision, and present and respond to complex lines of argument convincingly.

I can summarise and give my opinion about a short story, article, talk, discussion, interview, or documentary and answer further questions of detail.

I can carry out an effective, fluent interview, departing spontaneously from prepared questions, following up and probing interesting replies.

I can initiate speech, take my turn when appropriate and end conversation when I need to, though I may not always do this elegantly. I can use stock phrases (e.g. ‘That’s a difficult question to answer’) to gain time and keep the turn whilst thinking about what to say.

I can use a variety of linking words efficiently to mark clearly the relationships between ideas.

I can produce stretches of language with a fairly even tempo. Although I can be hesitant as I search for patterns and expressions, there are few noticeably long pauses. I can communicate spontaneously, often showing remarkable fluency and ease of expression in even longer complex stretches of speech.

I can give a clear, systematically developed presentation, with highlighting of significant points, and relevant supporting detail. I can express my ideas and opinions with precision, and present and respond to complex lines of argument convincingly.

I can help along the progress of the work by inviting others to join in, say what they think, etc. I can outline an issue or a problem clearly, speculating about causes or consequences, and weighing advantages and disadvantages of different approaches.

I can outline a case for compensation, using persuasive language to demand satisfaction and state clearly the limits to any concession I am prepared to make.

I can develop a clear description or narrative, expanding and supporting my main points with relevant supporting detail and examples.

I can write an essay or report which develops an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting detail. I can evaluate different ideas or solutions to a problem.

I can produce clearly intelligible continuous writing which follows standard layout and paragraphing conventions. Layout, paragraphing and punctuation are consistent and helpful. Spelling is accurate, apart from occasional mistakes.

I can express news and views effectively in writing, and relate to those of others.

I can write notes conveying simple information of immediate relevance to friends, service people, teachers and others who feature in my everyday life, getting across comprehensibly the points I feel are important.

Also, you will have studied and practiced the following language structures: (See Grammar)

Relative clauses

Quantifiers

Gerund or infinitive?

Different infinitive and gerund forms

Modals and related verbs

Past modals

Review of future forms

Future continuous and Future perfect

Hypothetical situations in the present

Hypothetical situations in the past

Reporting people’s exact words

Verbs that summarise what people say

Events and celebrations

Extreme adjectives

Strange events

Wordspot: wrong

Wordspot: take

The road to fame

Wordspot: big and great

Getting together

Types of media

Wordspot: speak and talk

Reading aloud

Sounding polite

Stress and weak forms of past modals

Contractions

Sentence stress

Stress patterns

Word stress in adjectives

I can follow extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signaled explicitly.

I can understand a wide range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms, appreciating shifts in style and register.

I can extract specific information from even poor quality, audibly distorted public announcements, e.g. in a station, sports stadium etc.

I can understand complex technical information, such as operating instructions, specifications for familiar products and services.

I can understand lectures, talks and reports in my field of professional or academic interest even when they are propositionally and linguistically complex.

I can without too much effort understand films employing a considerable degree of slang and idiomatic usage.

I can understand enough to follow extended speech on abstract and complex topics beyond my own field though I may need to confirm occasional details, especially if the accent is unfamiliar.

I can understand fairly long demanding texts and summarise them orally.

I can read complex reports, analyses and commentaries where opinions, viewpoints and connections are discussed.

I can extract information, ideas and opinions from highly specialised texts in my own field, for example research reports.

I can understand long complex instructions, for example for the use of a new piece of equipment, even if these are not related to my job or field of interest, provided I have enough time to reread them.

I can read most correspondence with the occasional use of a dictionary.

I can read contemporary literary texts with ease.

I can keep up with an animated conversation between native speakers.

I can use the language fluently, accurately and effectively on a wide range of general, professional or academic topics.

I can use language flexibly and effectively for social purposes, including emotional, allusive and joking usage.

I can express my ideas and opinions clearly and precisely, and can present and respond to complex lines of reasoning convincingly.

I can give clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects.

I can orally summarise long, demanding texts.

I can give an extended description or account of something, integrating themes, developing particular points and concluding appropriately.

I can give a clearly developed presentation on a subject in my fields of personal or professional interest, departing when necessary from the prepared text and following up spontaneously points raised by members of the audience.

I can use fluently a variety of appropriate expressions to preface my remarks in order to get the floor, or to gain time and keep the floor while thinking.

I can relate own contribution skilfully to those of other speakers.

I can substitute an equivalent term for a word I can’t recall without distracting the listener.

I can present a complex topic in a clear and well-structured way, highlighting the most important points, for example in a composition or a report.

I can present points of view in a comment on a topic or an event, underlining the main ideas and supporting my reasoning with detailed examples.

I can give a detailed description of experiences, feelings and events in a personal letter.

I can write formally correct letters, for example to complain or to take a stand in favour of or against something.

I can write texts which show a high degree of grammatical correctness and vary my vocabulary and style according to the addressee, the kind of text and the topic.

Also, you will have studied and practiced the following language structures: (See Grammar)

Continuous verb forms

Introducing points in an argument

Perfect verb forms

Cleft sentences

Modals and related verb forms

Abstract nouns and relative clauses

Adjectives and adverbs

Patterns with comparatives and superlatives

Use and non-use of passive forms

Particles which add meaning to verbs

Wordspot: World, earth, ground, floor

Varieties of English

Wordspot: Idioms with laugh, cry and tears

Getting people to do things

Wordspot: Idioms to do with the body

Wordspot: Way